Caterham

The LEGO Ideas program is a fantastic grassroots inspiration for future LEGO kits. It lets anyone submit a design for a new LEGO kit, and if the project gets 10,000 votes within a year, it gets reviewed by the company for possible sale. That happened with this neat Caterham Super Seven model, and we’re excited to tell you it will be available in stores, or at least LEGO’s online store, sometime soon. To quote the model’s designer, A kit of a kit car! After many requests to add this here and conversations with fans and designers, this may well just be possible with some structural compromises. My proposal is to put these models forwards as the intial concept, and to update over the next 12 months with the compromises that I can see would have to be made to make […]

Caterham Cars has expanded its UK dealer network with the launch of the BookaTrack Caterham showroom at Donington Park race circuit. The new showroom, based at one of Britain’s premier circuits, will sell Caterham’s full five model UK range of lightweight sportscars, as well as offering a full range of aftersales activities, including service, warranty and parts support. Caterham’s Experience day activities will be housed at the new facility, relocating from Silverstone to Donington Park. To celebrate the showroom launch, BookaTrack held a launch event on Saturday 5th March with a range of on and off track activities at Donington Park. Attendees were able to enjoy drifting action, with the Caterham Drift Experience, and test drives in a range of Caterham models, including the recently released Seven 620S. Graham Macdonald, Caterham Cars CEO, and Christopher Tate, Donington Park Managing Director, […]

The City Magazine – the largest freely-distributed luxury lifestyle title in the City of London – will be the media partner for the 2016 Caterham Academy. Targeting the discerning audience that works within the world’s leading financial hub, The City Magazine features big-name interviews and focuses on the finer things in life, including food, fashion, watches, motoring, sport and travel.

Caterham Cars has introduced the ‘S’ Pack and the wider-bodied S5 chassis as options for the fastest road car it has ever produced. The Seven 620 S is the mildly saner, more road-oriented sibling of the ballistic 620R and features comforts such as a full windscreen, hood and side screens, as well as leather seats. For the first time, the Seven 620 can also now be specified with the wide-bodied S5 chassis as an option costing £2,500. The S5 is wider and longer than the standard S3 chassis, providing an experience better suited for more generously-proportioned customers, with other benefits including added interior and luggage space and increased range thanks to a larger fuel tank. The 620S, priced at £44,995 (incl VAT) fully built, joins the 620R at the summit of the Seven range by harnessing the same 310bhp two-litre, […]

The Lotus Seven and its modern descendent, the Caterham Seven, are iconic motor cars on par with the Mini Cooper, Jaguar E-Type and MGB. Anyone who watched the short-lived 1960s show The Prisoner will no doubt remember the iconic opening sequence. What most people don’t know is that the Lotus is called the “Seven” for a good reason. Yes, there were actually a Lotus One through Six that led the way. The team at XCAR took one of those modern incarnations, a Seven 164 out for a drive, and then decided to tell the story of the Lotuses that came before the Seven. The video is  entertaining and well researched short film, full of interesting historical trivia. By the time its 12 minute run time is over you’ll be very well versed in the history of the Seven, and you’ll probably be […]

Caterham Motorsport has announced the calendars for its five domestic race championships for the 2016 season. The calendar takes in the entry-level Caterham Academy, which enters its 22nd season next year, as well as the hugely competitive, single-make series for Roadsport, Tracksport, Supersport and Superlight R300-S models. The Academy again features two sprints – at Aintree and Curborough – and five circuit races, joining forces with the other Caterham categories for the final four meetings at Snetterton, Oulton Park, Croft and Donington Park. Meanwhile, the non-Academy classes get trips to Anglesey as well as the traditional race abroad, this year at Zolder in Belgium. The R300-S field kicks off its season at the legendary Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, supporting the prestigious British GT Championship. The schedules for all categories have been carefully planned to include circuits that lend themselves […]

British sportscar maker, Caterham Cars, has launched a new approved finance scheme which offers customers the chance to fund a Seven in self-assembly form for the first time ever. Previously only available for new fully built and pre-owned Sevens, the new Caterham Finance scheme provides an accessible ownership proposition for Caterham fans wishing to build a Seven themselves. Extending the service to customers who purchase a Seven in component form means they will benefit from the same convenient finance facility as buyers of new factory built and pre-owned vehicles from Caterham’s approved used car service, Caterham Selected. Caterham Finance enables customers to fund the cost of a Seven over 48 months. For example, a self-assembly Seven 160 is available with a deposit of £3,099 and monthly payments of £279 at 19.5% APR Representative, equating to £65 per week, with a […]

Caterham Cars will attend the popular male lifestyle show, Salon de l’Homme, in Paris on 27-29 November, exhibiting a selection of its iconic British road and track focused Seven models. The stylish men’s lifestyle event is in its second year, and is hosted at the illustrious Carrousel du Louvre with crowds in excess of 20,000 expected throughout the three-day show.

No matter how many cars are on display at the free-to-view Regent Street Motor Show at the end of this month (Saturday 31 October) – and there will be hundreds – one more will leave than arrived. Four technicians from Caterham Cars will be building a car from scratch throughout the day. The four-strong team will start the day surrounded by a number of boxes full of parts to build up a Caterham Seven, and just six hours later they plan to drive the finished car away. Caterham Cars was founded in 1973 to manufacture and sell the self-assembly Seven two-seat sports car, and they’ve been doing it ever since. Based on the Lotus Seven from the 1950s, the current Caterham shares the same ‘back-to-basics’ looks as the original and it still shares the ethos of the original – performance […]

The 2015 season of Caterham’s five official race series reached their conclusion in a gripping finale at Silverstone on 17-18 October, with four championships going down to the wire and six champions being crowned in total. The GQ Caterham Academy, Caterham’s introductory race series designed exclusively for rookie racing divers, saw two full grids compete for the title. The season saw the competitors gaining their race licence at the start of the season and then progress from sprint events to circuit racing. In the Green group, Rui Ferreira had already sealed the title prior to the final weekend with three wins throughout the season. Andy Perry secured the championship in the White group with a second place finish at Silverstone proving enough to secure the title. The next step up the Caterham Motorsport ladder, the Roadsport class, saw 2014 Caterham […]

The ground-breaking Caterham Academy championship celebrated its 20th anniversary Thursday, October 1. The very first Academy event took place, under the banner of the Top Gear Caterham Scholarship, at Mallory Park in 1995 and Caterham has located rare footage of the event to celebrate the landmark birthday. Since its inception, the Academy has gone on to become one of the most popular novice race series in the UK, with more than 900 amateur male and female drivers competing across the 21 seasons racing the iconic Caterham Seven. The series is still going strong, with only a handful of the 56 grid slots for 2016 remaining. Academy graduates and aspiring racers alike can get a taste of the action from the inaugural event by viewing the following video.

British sportscar manufacturer, Caterham Cars, has expanded its growing European dealer network with the appointment of Borghi Automobili as a new distributor in Italy’s fashion capital, Milan. Borghi Automobili was established in 1919 and has almost a century’s experience in selling exotic sportscars from all over the world. The appointment re-establishes Caterham’s presence in Italy and the full European range of Caterham’s iconic British sportscars – including the Seven 165, the brand-new Seven 275, and Europe’s most powerful Seven; the 485 – will be available, as well as Caterham Academy and R300 race cars.  In addition to catering for new customers, Borghi Automobili also offers Italian customers a full after sales service. To celebrate its appointment as an official dealer, Borghi Automobili held a launch event on Friday 25th September at the showroom and showcased the recently released Seven 275 […]

Norman Dewis, OBE, chief test driver and development engineer for Jaguar Cars from 1952 to 1985, is set to become the oldest ever contestant when he drives in this year’s MPG Marathon – at the tender age of 95! Dewis, who was born in 1920, will be entering this year’s event, rated as the UK’s most prestigious lean-driving challenge, in a rear wheel drive, 2.0 litre 163hp Jaguar XE alongside Jaguar Heritage communications officer, Tony O’Keeffe. Over the years, Dewis has played a major role in the development of some of Jaguar’s most iconic models, including the E-Type, XJ6, XJ-S and many more. He was behind the wheel of a Jaguar XK120 in October 1953 when it reached 172.412mph at Jabbeke, Belgium, a record for production cars. Awarded the OBE for services to the motor industry in the New Year’s […]

Caterham Cars is entering the UK’s most prestigious eco-driving event, the MPG Marathon, for the first time in a two seater sports cars billed as the manufacturer’s ‘most frugal ever’. The British sportscar maker will be entering the entry level version of the iconic Caterham Seven, the 160, rated as the most economical in the company’s history and the most cost-effective two-seater sportscar on the market. The 160 is powered by a super-compact, turbocharged three-cylinder Suzuki engine, which enables it to achieve an impressive 57.6mpg, emit just 114g/km CO2 and yet reach 0 – 62mph in a blistering 6.5 seconds. “We are delighted that Caterham Cars is entering the MPG Marathon, the UK’s leading lean driving challenge, for the first time,” said organiser Jerry Ramsdale, publishing director of Fleet World. “We will be very interested to see how it compares against […]

Caterham has revived the spirit of one of its most illustrious Sevens – the boisterous 1.6-litre Seven Superlight – with the launch of a new special edition model. Just 20 of the special edition cars – launched at this weekend’s Goodwood Revival ahead of the 20th anniversary of the original Superlight in 1996 – will be built. The original Superlight’s production run ceased in 2004, but it heralded a new era of purposeful, track-biased Sevens designed to offer even more performance and low weight at a pared down price point. Despite its ultra-minimalist character – even for a Seven – the Superlight went on to become one of Caterham’s most coveted models, selling some 200 examples while in production. Priced at £29,995*, and sporting a similarly extreme spec sheet to that of the original, the Superlight Twenty receives a 135bhp […]

Reigning Caterham R300-S Superlight champion, Aaron Head and 2014 runner-up Dave Robinson will continue their head-to-head fight for this year’s title at Brands Hatch this weekend (Aug 1/2). In one of the most thrilling championship battles in the history of the competitive class, the pair have been scrapping all season long, but it is Robinson who leads going into the race weekend at the famous Kent circuit. The R300-S Championship is the pinnacle of Caterham’s domestic motorsport programme, which features five series, starting with the entry-level Caterham Academy, which is where Robinson started his racing career.

British sportscar manufacturer, Caterham Cars, is partnering with dealership Westside Cars, expanding its European dealer network to Hamburg, Germany. The dealership launch further strengthens Caterham’s presence in one of its key markets, Germany. The showroom in Hamburg will display the full European range of Caterham’s iconic British sportscars, including the Seven 165, the brand-new Seven 275, and the Seven 485. The launch of the new 1,500 square metre showroom was marked with an opening event for invited guests on the 26th June, and the dealership opens its door to the public on Saturday the 27th of June. Independent dealer Westside Cars is the latest to open a Caterham dealership in Europe, and the British sportscar manufacturer now has a growing network of dealerships in Europe. In addition to attending to new customers, Caterham Westside will offer after sales service run […]

The Avocet sportscar programme, including designs, datapack, production and intellectual property rights, is to be marketed for sale internationally as a now fully developed market-ready product, with defined, wide scope for future variants, options and alternative componentry. MMI, the privately owned automotive enterprise behind the marque, took the very deliberate decision to use the recent past flat market period to advantage, by undertaking substantial further development and testing, auditing and proving the car’s bill of materials and commercially benchmarking the project. MMI Founder and Managing Director, Martin Miles says: “We have done everything we set out to do – and more. The result is that Avocet is now a highly competitive car which combines a stylish, ultra-lightweight two-seater body with exceptional chassis dynamics and awesome performance … and we have achieved that whilst still retaining our base model price ambition […]